Leveraged ETFs, driving a race car at 150 miles an hour and taking a job on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as a young woman in 1993 might not be for everyone, but then everyone isn't Laura Morrison, who acknowledges that she's a risk-taker.
Ms. Morrison recently stepped down from her role as chief revenue officer at Direxion, a firm known for its leveraged and inverse ETFs.
"When I stepped into the role to run marketing, sales and product, we were at $19 billion in assets under management," said Ms. Morrison, who was named to the CRO role in June 2022. "When I left, which was at the very end of July, I was happy to share that we hit (an) all-time high at Direxion of $33 billion in assets under management."
Working at Direxion was "a great experience," but "having accomplished what we accomplished, I felt it was a good opportunity to decide to take some of those incoming calls," she said. Though Ms. Morrison hasn't accepted a new position yet, there are many different opportunities she's excited about, she said.
Before Direxion, Ms. Morrison served as senior vice president, global head of listings at Cboe Global Markets, where she oversaw the Cboe listings business including strategy development for ETF product launches. Before that, she held leadership roles at the NYSE, ultimately serving as senior vice president, global index and exchange-traded products.
"Laura played an instrumental role in the growth of the ETF industry in the U.S.," said Joanne Hill, chief advisor for research and strategy at Cboe Vest Financial, in nominating Ms. Morrison.
A member of Women in ETFs' U.S. board of directors, Ms. Morrison is also a founding member the Classic Car Club in Manhattan. She's driven on tracks in the U.S. and Europe, hitting speeds of "maybe 150 miles an hour, maybe 160," she said.
